This invention relates generally to the field of agricultural, farm and ranch equipment, and more particularly to devices for mechanically controlling and eradicating cactus and other succulent plants from farm and ranch pastures and other lands.
Cactus infestations can create management problems in terms of competition for water and soil nutrients, animal movement, animal health problems, and fencing and corral maintenance. Many tools, herbicides and methods have been used to attempt eradication of these plants. There have been many types of drag tools for knocking down cactus. Prior methods and tools either did substantial damage to the land or did not adequately damage or destroy the unwanted plant material. The tool described here will attack most varieties of cactus and is especially effective on prickly-pear cactus. It does very little damage to wildflowers, and almost none to pasture grasses. There are many variations possible, with a preferred embodiment having a small leading edge gap, and a smooth heavy linear surface in ground contact, with a small trapped space in-between.
The leading edge gap breaks up the cactus plants into small chunks or individual pads. The trapped space forces this debris to get folded up. The smooth, heavy contact surface crushes and mangles the cactus as it goes underneath out the back.
Flowers and grass simply pass unscathed through the leading-edge gap. The folding action in the trapped space does not hurt flowers and grass. Only the most delicate blooms are disturbed by passage of the smooth, heavy crushing surface over them. Grass is almost completely unhurt by this.
Prior methods of controlling cactus include chaining, which has been used against cactus, mesquite, and cedar on ranchland in western Texas. Other varieties of drag tools include towing chunks of railroad rail and large pieces of I-beam laying on its side.
Herbicides offer ranchers an additional tool to maintain brush densities at acceptable levels but carry the risk of toxicity to other plants, animals, and humans.
The mechanical tools (dragging, chaining) had varying degrees of effectiveness, ranging from bad to poor. These tools did varying amounts of damage to the pasture, ranging from moderate to unacceptable. In addition, these tools did a poor job of controlling the infestation of the problem plants.
Herbicide treatments are most effective only when used on brush plants that are small with a low number per acre. Large scale application is disfavored as these treatments act slowly and can be toxic to other beneficial plants and animals.
The primary object of the invention is to provide a machine for destroying cactus by means of a drag tool.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus that destroys unwanted cactus with minimum damage to grass and wildflowers.
Another object of the invention is to provide a machine that reduces the time and effort required to manage cactus infestation.
A further object of the invention is to provide a machine for eradicating cactus without requiring pick up of cactus debris.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is disclosed an apparatus for mechanically controlling and eradicating cactus and other succulent plants from farm and ranch pastures and other lands having a cutter deck on the drag tool to break off cactus pads near ground level and a crushing rail to crush and mangle cactus pads increasing the probability that pads will not re-root.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the invention, there is disclosed a device using a stabilizer to prevent the tool from turning over when used on uneven terrain and a breakup gap at the cutter deck leading edge to prevent tool from digging into the ground.
A crushing gap between the cutter deck and the crushing rail to increase surface wound on cactus pads enhances effectiveness of the tool.
An adjustment assembly may be attached for varying the deck length to accommodate treatment on varying types of terrain.
The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments to the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. It is to be understood that in some instances various aspects of the invention may be shown exaggerated or enlarged to facilitate an understanding of the invention.